Unit for holding the leaves in visible-record systems



1,634,956 July 1927' H. c. MILLER UNIT FOR HOLDING THE LEAVES IN VISIBLE RECORD SYSTEMS Filed March 2?, 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Z Z L 1 L woo 00k 1,634,956 July 5, 1927- H. c. MILLER UNIT FOR HOLDING THE LEAVES IN VISIBLE RECORD SYSTEMS Filed March 29, 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 moo oo I I ova/y Patented July 5, 1927.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY C. MILLER, 01? MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN; FIRST WISCONSIN TRUST COMPANY, OF MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN, EXEGUTOR OF SAID HENRY C. MILLER, DECEASED.

UNIT FOR HOLDING THE LEAVES IN 'VI SIBLE-RECORD SYSTEMS.

Application filed March 29, 1926. Serial No. 98,899.

This invention relates to a unit for holding the leaves 1n a visible record system.

This invention is an lmprovement over that disclosed in my copendingapplication' 5 for visible record system, Serial No. 74,523, filed Dec. 10, 1925, and has, in general, the same objects of those disclosed in such application.

Further objects of this invention are to provide a unit having'two systems of parallel members or leaf rests, each of which 1s provided with impaling prongs, and to form these impaling prongs so that they contact with each other under normalconditions to form a continuous ring from one leaf rest to the other leaf rest, and to provide the break in the impaling prongs at staggered points.

Further objects are to provlde a visible record system, which although having the prongs normally contacting with each other,

is nevertheless, so constructed that one of the members may be shifted longitudinally with reference to the other member to permit the individual or collective shifting of certain of the sheets with respect to the remaining sheets, or raising or lowering them as desired, and to so construct the device that the leaf rests may be bodily moved apart so as to provide for the removal or lnsertion of sheets.

More particularly, this invention has for its object a novel form of impaling prongs adapted for use with loose leaf'holdmg devices of any type.

The prongs are so formed thatthey will insure the retention of the leaves dur1ng their shifting upwardly or downwardly of 40 the device. I

in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 1s a view of the device laid out flat with the parts in their normal position.

Figure 2 is an end view of the structure ing plate, such plate being indicated at 4.

An embodiment of the invention is shown ears 15 and 16 formed on the leaf rests and Referring to the drawings, it will be seen,

particularly from Figure 4, that the device is provided with a base plate 1 which may be equipped with outwardly projecting ears 1' to which covers 2 may be hinged when the device is to be used as a loose leaf binder. It is to-be understood, however, that the base plate may be secured to any suitable support and that the invention is not limited to a loose leaf binder. This base plate carries a series of toggle links 3 which are connected to leaf rests 4, or to plates secured to the leaf rests as described in my above noted application. For instance, one of the leaf rests 1 is slidably mounted upon its correspond- This sliding motion may be had by means of pin or slot connections as indicated, the slots being in either the leaf rest or, the plate. The toggle link mechanism thus pro vides parallel motion mechanism for connecting the leaf rests. These toggle links are provided with pins, certain of which may be attached to the base plate or guide within the slots as described in greater detail in my above noted application. The ends of the leaf rests are received beneath the inwardly turned flanges 5 and 6 which extend from the end of the base plate 1. For convenience of description, the flanges 5 and 6 will be referred to as the lower and the upper, flange, although obviously, this mode of describing them is not intended to import any limitation into the case. The lower flange is provided with outwardly projecting locking ears 7 and 8. The locking ear 8 being carried by a movable slide 9 as indicatedin Figures 1 and 3. When the leaf rests are brought together as shown in Fig- I we 1, the manipulating pins 10 and 11 are engaged beneath the ears 7 and 8. Preferably, the base plate carries a pair of pins 12 which fit within a guiding slot of a latch or slide'13. This latch is provided with a notch 14 in its upper end adapted to receive the to thus lock the leaf rests together.

It is apparent that the leaf rests may be separated by sliding the latch 13 downwardly and opening the device outwardly. Further, whether the device is in open or closed position, the slide 9 may be moved to the left, thus freeing the pin 10 and permitting upward shifting of the corresponding leaf rest.

Each leaf rest carries a series of impaling prongs which together form continuous rings in locking position as shown in Figures 1 and 2. For example, a long series of prongs 17 and a short series of prongs 18 are carried by each leaf rest, and these prongs alternate on their respective lea-f rests. In addition to this, the long prong of one leaf rest is adapted to engage the short prong of the other leaf rest as is apparent from a consideration of the Figures 1 and 4.

It is to be noted that the contacting faces of each of these prongs is beveled so that they may be separated when one of the leaf rests is moved upwardly as shown in Figure 3. Thus contacting of the faces of the prongs throughout an extended ring is assured, and yet, they are permitted to move apart when one of the leaf rests is slid longitudinally with respect'to the other leaf rest.

It is to be particularly noted from reference to Figure 3 that when the shifting has taken place as shown in the figure the leaves may be rocked or swung over from one leaf rest to the other, and that they are never disengaged, at any time. in this motion, from the prongs. Instead they are continuously engaged by one series of prongs, and then are engaged by another series, and thus, it is impossible to inadvertently detach the leaves when this shifting is taking place.

However, as shown in Figure 4, when it is desired. to remove the leaves, it is ,merely necessary to separate the leaf rests. This provides a space even between the longest prongs, and permits the removal or insertion of leaves.

This construction, although particularly adapted for a visible record system as de scribed in detail above and as illustrated in the drawings, is, nevertheless, applicable to ring binders or others of this type. The arrangement of short and long alternating prongs tends to maintain engagement of the eaves even when the rests are in the position shown in Figure 4, and consequently, to permit a more ready shifting of the leaves with less chance of inadvertent detachment even when the invention is applied to ordinary ma ness with the prongs even when they are shifted or raised one with respect to the other as shown in Figure 3.

It will be seen further that the invention contemplates a relatively simple and reliable type of structure and that it is free from complicated mechanism or fragile parts.

Although the invention has been described in considerable detail, such description is intended as illustrative rather than limiting as the invention may be variously embodied and as the scope of such invention is to be determined as claimed.

I claim:

1. A unit for av record system comprising a base plate, bars carried at each side of said base plate, said bars lying in the same plane, a double series of impaling prongs carried by and extending upwardly from each bar andadapted to form together rings continuous-from one bar to the other bar, one series of prongs being shorter than the other series with the prongs of diiferent lengths arranged alternately, whereby the breaks between the prongs are staggered.

2. A unit for a record system comprising a base member, a pair of parallel bars car- 'ried by said member, one of said bars being slidable longitudinally of said member, and a plurality of impaling prongs carried by each of said bars and forming together rings continuous from one bar to the other bar, the prongs being alternately of different lengths.

3. A unit for a record system, comprising a base member, a pair of parallel bars carried by said member, one of said bars being slidable longitudinally of said member, and a plurality of impaling prongs carried by each of said bars and forming together rings continuous from one bar to the other bar, the prongs being alternately of different lengths, and having slanting abutting faces.

4. A unit for a visible record system comprising a base plate, a pair of leaf rests, parallel motion mechanism connecting said leaf rests and said base plate, whereby said leaf rests may move directly apart, means for longitudinally guiding one of said leaf rests, impaling prongs carried by each of said leaf rests and having normally abutting faces, whereby retaining rings are provided and extend from one leaf rest to the other, the prongs on one leaf rest being alternately long and short and the prong on the other leaf rest being alternately short and lon 5. A unit for a visible record system comprising a base plate, a pair of leaf rests, parallel motion mechanism connecting said leaf rests and said base plate, whereby said leaf rests may move directly apart, means for longitudinally guiding one of said leaf rests, impaling prongs carried by each of said leaf rests and having slanting normally abutting faces, whereb retaining rings are provided and extend rom one leaf rest to the other, the pron on one leaf rest being alternately long an short and the prong on the other leaf rest being alternately short and long, fastening meansfor locking the leaf rests against separation, and independent fasteningmeans for locking the longitudinally movable leaf rest against longithe county of Milwaukee and State of Wisconsin.

HENRY C. MILLER.

have hereunto set my hand at Milwaukee, 1n 

